Wednesday, 13 January 2010

The Tripper

2006
Dir. David Arquette

A group of free-loving, pot-smoking, acid-dropping hippies attend a music and camping festival only to find themselves stalked and brutally butchered by an axe-wielding psychotic killer wearing a Ronald Reagan mask. Aided by his faithful killer dog, Nancy. Naturally.

David Arquette’s directorial feature debut is a loving throwback to gritty backwoods slashers from the Eighties. Arquette actually sticks fairly rigidly to the preconceived slasher coda. A pre-credits-like ‘flashback’ to the 80's depicts a young boy who, after seeing his father and lumberjack foreman being attacked by a deforesting protestor and subsequently arrested by the police, goes on a killing spree with a chainsaw.
Cut to present day and the introduction of 'Final Girl' Samantha (Jaime King) who, still reeling from her breakup with an abusive boyfriend, joins her eclectic bunch of kerr-azy pot-smoking friends (who resemble a really fucked up version of the Scooby gang) and heads to the American Free Love Festival in woody Northern California. To his credit, Arquette has gathered together a pretty cool bunch of alt/indie actors including Jason Mewes, Lukas Haas, Balthazar Getty and Marsha Thomason who delve into their mainly unsavoury archetypes characters with dark relish.

The Tripper is a mixed bag really, for whilst Arquette displays an undeniable talent for creating and sustaining a creepy atmosphere with bizarre and off kilter humour thrown in for good measure, he isn’t able to muster any real sense of tension or suspense. The story is at times a jumbled mess, but it still exudes a cheeky wit and shameless trashiness that is still perfectly entertaining and manages to exhibit more than a hint of old school slasher movie ethos. However, what began as mildly ridiculous schlock-homage, soon degenerates and plummets face first into pure, outright ludicrousness with the discovery of a backwoods shack decked out in candles and Ronald Reagan memorabilia. The film also has a weird political slant – though this is played for laughs and highlights criticism flung at previous slasher movies for being morally conservative in their outlook. Arquette takes the subtext of slasher movies and makes it ‘over-text’. Picking up right where John Carpenter’s Halloween left off and exaggerating it to warped proportions. Carpenter’s seminal slasher is often regarded as the film that marked the beginning of the end of the Love Generation – with its depictions of anyone caught dabbling in activities associated with the free-loving ‘hippy’ and liberal Sixties, including drinking, doing drugs or engaging in premarital bedroom activities, falling victim to a seemingly highly conservative maniac - an action Carpenter has since apologised for!

Arquette obviously has a keen eye for striking visuals – the scenes in the forest at night are particularly effective: all fog-shrouded with moonlight streaming through trees to silhouette the figures moving within them. At times though the visuals, while imaginative, are a tad distracting and really lift the viewer out of the film and break what little tension Arquette was able to muster. This is especially the case during the film’s climactic chase scene as Samantha is pursued through the forest after she’s been spiked with drugs and is hallucinating wildly. Psychedelic colours and shapes swirl around onscreen and characters are framed through a kaleidoscopic lens. Woah man, trippy. Gnarly. Etc etc. Having said that, the onslaught of wild visuals never bores and easily conveys the drug addled, warped perspective of the characters. The editing is also designed to purposely disorientate, particularly in conjunction with the psychedelic visuals that convey character’s tripping perspectives.

The Woodstock-type festival populated with randomly naked, free-loving pot-heads is also effectively realised, highlighting another troupe of Arquette’s in his canny knack for recreating the look and tone of a bygone era and creating recognisable characters to inhabit it. His love for old slasher films is also evident in the score, courtesy of Jimmy Haun and David Wittman, boasting wizened synth drones. The music also features militant, distorted patriotic drums and a warped rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Odd.

Thomas Jane is particularly good as the town sheriff and Courtney Cox-Arquette also makes a small, though admittedly humorous cameo as an animal rights extremist who is torn to shreds by the killer’s rabid dog, Nancy. The rest of the cast do fine jobs with the often deliberately trashy material - David Arquette even cameos as lovable redneck Muff. Aww. Paul Reubens however, picks up the award for most thankless role ever. His devastatingly unfunny and woefully unnecessary appearances really break up the flow of an otherwise rather entertaining movie. His comeuppance comes far too late – but is kind of appropriate for his dreadful character. Poor Paul Reubens. I’m sure he was just glad to be working again.

While silly and overly jokey, the film is also immensely violent – hell, ridiculously violent. The story unravels in the most chaotic and frenzied way possible, and the bursts of brutal violence and gory effects are often ill at ease with the fart gags and tit jokes. A particularly memorable and very violent scene that is essentially played for laughs involves the killer bursting into a rave party and hacking up the revellers. This is a frenzy of a scene with psychotic editing and calamitous music.

A bewildering blend of inappropriate humour, brutal violence and loving homage to old slasher movies, The Tripper is a mess of movie that still somehow manages to work. Just. Perhaps for hardcore slasher fans only. Or hardcore David Arquette fans only. Or your Mom!

Ha ha...My mom WOULD love it! I remember this one and I did want to actually see it, though I heard kind of bad things. I am a pretty hardcore Slasher fan, so based off your review,I will certainly give it a chance. Great review as always and thanks for bringing this one back to my radar.

Hey guys - yes, while this is certainly a fine LOOKING film - parts of it look like they've been cut straight out of the Eighties - it is just too goofy. It is supposed to be funny - but the 'humour' ruins any chances of tension. I just happened to catch it on TV the other night - and being the lover of slasher flicks that I am - felt curious to see it.

Aaron i don't know what you mean!!? David Arquette is the MAN! I love ALL of his films. Except the one with the dogs. And the one where he's a wrestler. And... Ok. Maybe you're right... He was funny in Eight Legged Freaks... *backs sheepishly away from conversation*

Excellent timing, I just hit this one as well, like you mentioned Arquette does a surprising decent job, much better than I ever would have given him credit for. I met him on that tour too and he was high as shit. Maybe higher than shit.

Behind the Couch is a term used as a humorous metaphor to describe the actions that a state of fear may drive someone to: for example, a young child hiding 'behind the couch' when watching a scary film or TV show. Its use generally evokes a feeling of nostalgia: safe fear in a domestic setting.

In the case of this blog, it also denotes the reviewer hiding behind the couch in shame, due to the huge amount of trashy horror films he watches...

"Gracey approaches the material with energy and intelligence... You'll be dusting off your Dario Argento DVDs to reevaluate even the titles you didn't think you liked before." - Cinema Somnambulist

"A study that is commendably even-handed in its approach... An excellent introduction to Argento - Gracey clearly knows his stuff, and a love of all things Argento shines through on each page." - Land of Whimsy

"It’s incredible. The amount of detail, information and analysis is astounding. Beyond that the book is a treasure trove of info. 8/10." - The Toxic Graveyard

"Sure to contain something new for even the most dedicated Argento fan." - Eye for Film"Highly recommended for fans, and for those seeking to learn a little more about his movies... Make sure to check it out." - Benevolent Street

'The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.'

H.P. Lovecraft

'Like one, that on a lonesome roadDoth walk in fear and dread,And having once turned round, walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows a frightful fiend Doth close behind him tread.'

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

'A shudder through the silence creptAnd death athwart the noonlight swept…Graves closed round my path of life,The beautiful had fled;Pale shadows wandered by my side,And whispered of the dead.'

Sarah Helen Whitman

'We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.'

Stephen King

'Human beings are the only living creatures endowed with a full awareness of their own mortality.'

Alex Lickerman, Buddhist Physician

'A house is never still in darkness to those who listen intently; there is a whispering in distant chambers, an unearthly hand presses the snib of the window, the latch rises. Ghosts were created when the first man awoke in the night.'